Topic: Protect your private key to keep it safe (Read 326 times)

It's better to make sure that nobody knows your private key or backup seed so that you will be the only one that can access easily in your account if it has an amount and try to add 2FA authentication if possible for security purposes

The private key is indeed our most valuable resource, because all of our cryptocurrencies must exist in the wallet, and the best way we can protect these digital assets is to protect the private key!

Also just to add to this, a real private key or seed backup is safer than a wallet.dat file that can be easily corrupted (and also keep on a backup device away from the computer, or perhaps two, for safety).

I've been doing crazy things just to keep my private key, why I didn't even think about this before?

This is the very wise thing to do. Don't ever store it on a cloud storage, email or any database that's connected to the web. Don't be so confident that your files whether its text or not would be safe to be placed there.

Simplest and manual method are the safest that we can't imagine so don't go far with those methods. Be responsible.

And you have to remember your password, use more back ups just to be sure.

That's right man. Keep it as your bigget secret and never let anyone know it.

private key is neither a "keyword" nor a "code". a private key is simply a random number that is encoded into a string of certain length depending on the size of the key so it is human readable. this encoding for bitcoin is base58 encoding with a checksum.
technically private key does not prove ownership, the signature that is cryptographically created using the key does that. and you don't prove ownership of a "wallet" but the coins that belong to that key!

I'd like to add a guide I wrote consisting of some suggestions on how to stay safe and various wallet alternatives incase someone is interested to find some more information:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/general-crypto-safety-wallet-guide-3576100

an issue here is if some virus is on your computer to begin with, they'd sooner or later find the password, or the private key etc.

One of the easiest ways and useful to protect the private key.

Put it in a password-protected zip file, copy that ZIP. Put one on the flashcard another keep in your PC.
Use the same browser to access the wallet (don`t use the browser another way), don`t install add-ons or smth like this.

I suggest to the OP to change his post a little as the beginners will think it is ok to trust their private keys to reputable websites which is also not a good idea, you just mentioned that fake websites are the ones who are trying to steal your private key from you when in fact other websites are doing it from its users. Let us just take a note or make this a rule to remember that private keys are by no means meant to be shared by but it is meant to be kept and the only way you will use it is when you are trouble retrieving your own wallet.

Well, in general, the main thing is not to mix it up with a wallet)  By errors indicating in the bounty private key you will lose your tokens with a probability of 100%
You should also check the browser extensions. Perhaps some of them steal your data.

The private key is like a password which cannot be changed and hence it is extremely necessary for anyone to keep it secure. In the Crypto industry, one is responsible for his own actions and thus he should be there to bear the consequences arising out of his actions. Anyone having the private key is in the position of spending the funds associated with that wallet irrespective of any kind of contract made with the owner of that wallet.

You made a good point here, it's necessary to understand how important a private key is to prevent any losses. I want to add something more, that is very important to prevent also losses: Don't store too much of your coins on an exchange wallet. There, you don't have access to your private keys, they are held from the exchange. If something happens, like the exchange gets hacked, you can also lose your coins. I know some will argue now cold storage is very safe and that's right, but there could still happen something.

Personally, it feels much better to be the only one holding the private keys of my wallet.  

Yes I agree with you and this is i always do to keep my private key and my wallet save from hacker or phising.
1. Bookmark to sites that you often visit
2. Don't tell your private key to anyone
3. Save assets to wallet hardware (maybe ledger nano or trezor)
4. Don't use the same email and password(use strong password and combine) on every site if you are afraid to forget the email is recorded on paper
5. Don't save your Private key or wallet account information on Google Drive, Dropbox or online storage media (essentially don't connect to the internet)
6. Always check your laptop regularly with antivirus
7. Use 2FA safeguards if they are there
8. If you want to just check your balance on MEW, you can choose read only to check it.
9. Always be vigilant and careful sometimes we can get an email if you get some tokens/coins and then you must fill the form to submit private key
10. If you have many asset you should use cold wallet and save your private key. Do not print but write it and the
 laminated keep at safe place.

The key thing to remember with Private keys, is not to expose it to the internet. I have seen too many people storing Private keys on Cloud storage services and even in their web based emails, only having all those coins stored, ending up in someone else's pockets.

Keep a laminated printed version stored in a dry/fireproof location and a copy of that private key, stored in a separate location.

Avoid storing these private keys in safety deposit boxes at Banks, if you are planning to store a lot of coins in these wallets.  

Test post, will change content if it gets through. Edit: Woohoo, posting possible again \o /

Regarding security and safety of cryptocurrency funds definitely look at "hot wallets", "cold wallets" and "paper wallets". Do not store big values at web wallets. If you want to use hardware wallets do not buy from resellers, these can be manipulated.

In fact under no circumstance should you disclose your private keys to any site or individual. When trading on centralized exchanges, your private keys are not required, you simply deposit and withdraw to your wallet.

Decentralized exchanges demands for your private keys, but you can always log in with metamask to be absolutely secure.
And also beware of pop-up ads requesting for private details.

Private key is a keyword or code consisting of many letters which also proves that the private owner of the key has a digital wallet such as ethereum, bitcoin, and so on. Losing the private key can be fatal to your wallet, you may lose the balance and token in the wallet, so keep your key private if you don't want it to happen to you.

As a private key owner, you must be careful of fake sites that want your private key, this case has often happened to some people, they don't know that they have been fooled by scammers. These fake sites can resemble crypto markets, exchange sites, and many other types of sites that are very harmful to your private key, check it out before you enter the site you visit, it is very important for you so that you don't fall into trap of scammers.

Do not let you be easily fooled by someone's trickery, because crime is not only in one room, in social media the criminals do their actions to take your wealth, I have seen a G-Mail that contains a giveaway token, there is a form link available, however ... after I observed that the form contained fake exchange links, this is unfortunate if someone did not know and just handed the private key in the hands of the scammers, it would be very detrimental if we got fooled and lost all the results of the wallet we have.

Save it, do not give your private key to anyone, because the private key that you have is your future, if you lose it, then all your dreams will be forfeited instantly, thank you,